It occurred to me a while back that I couldn’t remember the last time I read a fiction book. Over the last 20 years, basically since college, the vast majority of my reading has been non-fiction. I have read several hundred books in that time, but I couldn’t think of a single one that was fiction.
In reading non-fiction, I would often run across leadership oriented books wherein the author highly recommended a strong regimen of personal reading of both non-fiction and fiction. Obviously, if one wants to improve and expand their knowledge and skill, reading non-fiction books is an excellent way to do so. However, I continued to ignore the recommendations to read fiction as part of my personal growth and development.
This year, I decided to change that.
And I am glad I did.
Sure, I get more practical use out of the non-fiction that I read, but a good story (fiction) is a great way to increase creativity and even connection as so many plot lines bring out familiar themes that all of us
Admittedly my choices were largely driven by what was available as an audiobook from my local library. I would encourage you to check out yours as today’s libraries often have a digital collection of ebooks and audiobooks.
If you want to “read” more audiobooks, Audible is an excellent service to try. You can try Audible free for 30 days and in the process receive 2 free audiobooks. As an Amazon company, Audible has an excellent selection of titles.
Here is my list of fiction books I read in the past year.
The Quick and the Dead: A Novel
by Louis L’Amour
When I was young, I loved reading Louis Lamour books. Like many young men, I found the cowboy life intriguing. The thought of hunting my own food, surviving off the land, living simply with minimal belonging, and making one’s own way strikes a chord with me.
Lamour’s stories, in particular, drew me in with the good versus evil theme that permeated his plots. So many of his protagonists exhibited a high moral character in a world that could be very wild and unrestrained.
So, I was please to find a few of his title available through my library in audiobook form. To be honest, I probably have 30 of his books in a box in my basement. I really need to re-read his books in the future.
The Chronicles of Narnia Series
by C.S. Lewis
I know, these are really considered children’s books. However, these children’s books are considered classics. I highly recommend that parents buy these and have them on their shelves for their kids to read. You can get the series in paperback relatively inexpensively. Or better yet, read them to them when they are younger. That’s what I did with a few of the books in the series.
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first book to be written. However, The Magician’s Nephew is essentially a prequel and I would recommend starting with it. However, C.S. Lewis did not advocate any particular order. I would recommend one of the following for order.
The Chronicle’s of Narnia in natural order:
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
The Chronicles of Narnia in order of publication:
- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
- Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Horse and His Boy
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Last Battle
The Hunger Games Series
by Suzanne Collins
Having seen these movies a few years ago, I decided to add these to my audiobook “reading” list. Quite frankly, I was showing a friend how to use the library’s app in order to download audiobooks, and this one popped up so I checked it out simply to demonstrate how it worked. But I decided to listen to it anyway.
If you have seen the movies, they are actually very close to the books. But of course, the books tell you much more than the movie can about the characters and what was going on in their minds.
I really enjoyed the first 2 books in the series. The stories they tell are really compelling. The 3rd book was my least favorite, but still worth reading in order to complete the series.
The Hunger Games series:
- The Hunger Games
- Catching Fire
- Mockingjay
For next year…
I am not sure what fiction books I will read next. I need some help. If you have recommendations for me, please put them in the comments below.
